Free
from the rational demands of formal training, the artists use what
they can find to make what they need to make.. Their completely original
artwork is untouched by opinions about what is "good" or
"not good" art. Uncooked by academic imperatives, their
art is "raw".. The artists use color intuitively, not feeling
the need to represent what other people see. They shape their highly
individual visions straight from their private heart.

"Outsiders"
are marginalized by society for one reason or another: poverty, race,
emotional or mental issues. There have been many attempts at definition.

TERENCE
DALTON is
currently in a residential program in a private clinic in NW Florida.

He has been painting since
1971. His artwork shares outsider sensibilities, but he quotes Aldus
Huxley, thus his work cannot be neatly categorized.
He is a complex stranger in a strange land.

Michel Thevoz, Curator of the Collection
de l'Art Brut in Lausanne has written the following:

"Art Brut", or "outsider art",
consists of works produced by people who for various reasons have
not been culturally indocrinated or socially conditioned. They are
all kinds of dwellers on the fringes of society. Working outside fine
art "system" (schools, galleries, museums and so on), these
people have produced, from the depths of their own personalities and
for themselves and no one else, works of outstanding originality in
concept, subject and techniques. They are works which owe nothing
to tradition or fashion.

Raw
art, uncooked by convention, is prized for just that reason.

Outsider
Art refers to art created by self taught individuals outside the mainstream.
Uneducated in Art and unfamiliar with the artist/gallery relationship,
certain people spontaneously begin to make art. In many cases a traumatic
experience leads to visual expression. The resulting images are completely
original, uncooked, raw revelations of personal life experiences.
This unveiled imagery is childlike, naive, and regarded by collectors
as a more authentic approach to truth of Art. Many 20th century artists
studied the work of outsiders and many 21st century artists have incorporated
outsider elements.

"The
term ‘Outsider Art’ was first used by Roger
Cardinal, author of the first English language book on this subject.
This was an effort to define the French expression l’Art Brut which
was originated by artist Jean
Dubuffet when he was introduced to work created by patients in
mental institutions. It is now widely accepted among art writers and
historians as the chosen definition for work which has been created
by artists that meet a number of criteria including, self taught,
compulsive, visionary and often those who have had mental health issues.

The definition
"Art Extraordinary" was devised in order to reduce the potential
alienation felt by those labeled ‘Outsider’. The focus of the term
was shifted from the artists to the works they created often in ‘extraordinary’
materials or of ‘extraordinary’ visionary subjects. The term Art Extraordinary
highlights the achievements of the artists rather than the obstacles
they face." Wikipedia.

Of
course, the creative impulse crosses all the lines drawn by art critics,
historians, and writers. Categories such as Outsider, Folk, Art Brut,
Visionary, Naive, Primitive, and so on, only have relevance so we
can talk about the artform, the anti-thesis of mainstream art. Jargon
is only necessary to the critique of art, to the dialogue, the conversation.

That
is another art form altogether and should not be confused with the
art itself.

Self-taught
artists, working in isolation, are making art having no interest in,
or exposure to, the defintions and attributes we create. Indeed, trying
to make certain artists fit into a certain category and stay there,
has caused ridiculous ravings about "an outsider artist is no
longer an outsider artist" when they begin showing their work
in commercial galleries. I would say that an artist is born that way,
whether they have a disability or not.